SpaceX launches secret ‘Optus-X’ payload atop Falcon 9 rocket

SpaceX launched a secret mission on Sunday evening from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, using a Falcon 9 rocket.

While the mission was named “TD7,” regulatory filings referred to the payload as “Optus-X,” a communications satellite.

The rocket’s first-stage booster successfully landed on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” about nine minutes after liftoff, marking SpaceX’s 85th landing on that ship.

The payload is headed to a geosynchronous orbit, approximately 23,000 miles above Earth, UPI has reported.

This mission also marked the 16th flight for the booster used in the launch.

Written by B.C. Begley